"Ask God What Your Grade Is"

Los Angeles City College is being sued for religious discrimination after a public speaking professor refused to allow a student to complete his speech in support of traditional marriage. The lawsuit also seeks to overturn university rules on offensive speech by students.

A classroom dispute at Los Angeles City College in the emotional aftermath of Proposition 8 has given rise to a lawsuit testing the balance between 1st Amendment rights and school codes on offensive speech. Student Jonathan Lopez says his professor called him a "fascist bastard" and refused to let him finish his speech against same-sex marriage during a public speaking class last November, weeks after California voters approved the ban on such unions. When Lopez tried to find out his mark for the speech, the professor, John Matteson, allegedly told him to "ask God what your grade is," the suit says. Lopez also said the teacher threatened to have him expelled when he complained to higher-ups.

In addition to financial damages, the suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks to strike down a sexual harassment code barring students from uttering "offensive" statements. Jean-Paul Jassy, a 1st Amendment lawyer in Los Angeles, said a number of cases have explored the tension between offensive speech and the expression of religious views. Often, he said, the decision depends on the specifics of the situation. "Free speech really thrives when people are going back and forth, disagreeing sometimes and sometimes finding things each other says offensive, but there are limits, particularly in a school setting," Jassy said after reviewing the lawsuit. Lopez, a Los Angeles resident working toward an associate of arts degree, is described in the suit as a Christian who considers it a religious duty to share his beliefs, particularly with other students. He declined to comment. Matteson could not be reached.

The student is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, the Arizona-based Christianist organization who recently lost their bid to force California to shield the names of Prop 8 donors from public review. The ADF also has lost several cases in New York where they are trying to prevent the state from recognizing out-of-state gay marriages.

Do you think the ADF may finally have a winning case? Is arguing against marriage equality in a public speaking class "offensive speech" or merely assholish? The case may depend on whatever precedent the school has set regarding speech intended to offend other students.